GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – There was little chance Jacksonville was going to catch No. 10 Florida off guard again.
The Dolphins stunned the Gators in Gainesville last season, knocking Florida out of the rankings.
This time, Florida was ready.
And even though the Gators had one starter on crutches and a key backup dealing with a groin injury, they allowed the Dolphins little chance at another upset.
Kenny Boynton scored 22 points, Erving Walker added 21 and Florida used a hot-shooting night to handle Jacksonville 107-62 on Friday.
“Florida came out and played hard and did what they had to do, so we have to give them credit,” JU coach Cliff Warren said.
The Gators (4-1) dominated from the opening tip, making seven of their first 14 shots to open a double-digit lead. Boynton hit consecutive 3-pointers that pushed the lead to 18.
Florida was up 58-38 at halftime and showed the kind of knockout mentality coach Billy Donovan has been seeking with a 13-2 run to start the second half.
“I felt like this game was the best game we’ve played in terms of how I envision our team playing offensively and defensively,” Donovan said.
Russell Powell led the Dolphins with 15 points. Keith McDougald added 12, and Tevin Galvin finished with four points, four rebounds and four turnovers in his season debut. Galvin, who averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds last season, missed the first four games with a leg injury.
“We need to get a better effort from our entire team,” Warren said. “We are a work in progress. We need to learn from this and get better for the rest of the season.”
Bradley Beal had 15 points for Florida. Patric Young added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Mike Rosario chipped in 12 points, giving the Gators five players in double figures.
Young keyed the second-half spurt. Wearing protective glasses four nights after he got poked in the eye, Young had a layup off a blocked shot, a free throw and another easy bucket in the paint. He was fouled on the last of his three straight plays and missed the free throw. No worries, though. He got the offensive board, which led to Scottie Wilbekin’s 3 from the wing.
Young helped negate the absence of forward Erik Murphy. Murphy injured his right knee in practice Thursday and was on crutches Friday.
Murphy, a 6-foot-10 junior from Rhode Island, banged his knee in practice and is still unsure how severe the injury is. Donovan said he doesn’t believe it is season ending, but more tests are scheduled for Saturday.
Murphy is averaging 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. Will Yeguete replaced him the lineup, and finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
Casey Prather also is dealing with a groin injury, leaving Florida with a relatively short bench.
It didn’t matter against the Dolphins.
“We moved the ball. We shared the ball,” Donovan said. “I thought we were really active in our press. We were able to cause a lot of havoc. Even though we didn’t turn them over a lot, it created a tempo and a pace for us that offensively we were really able to get out on the break.
“I thought we were disruptive. We took them a little bit out of their flow and we got stops.”
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